


Making It Official

by Firestar385



Series: The Spellbound Affair 'Verse [6]
Category: Castle
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/M, Family, Kid Fic, Non-Canon after Season 5, Really Non-Canon after Season 7, Supernatural Elements, Weddings, Witchcraft
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-16
Updated: 2016-04-16
Packaged: 2018-06-02 14:56:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,768
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6570604
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Firestar385/pseuds/Firestar385
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Part of <i>The Spellbound Affair - Alternate Ending</i> continuity, consisting of tie-ins that provide glimpses into the Castle family as Javier and Kevin grow up again.<br/><b>April 2014</b><br/>Javier - Seven years old<br/>Kevin - Five years old<br/>Johanna - 5 weeks-ish</p><p>Wherein Castle and Beckett finally tie the knot...</p><p>  <i>Note: This was written well before Season 7 aired, so the wedding is completely non-canon.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Wedding

**Author's Note:**

> The usual disclaimers apply: I’m not making any money off of this, _Castle_ belongs to ABC and Andrew Marlowe, and any similarities to real people or places are strictly a coincidence.
> 
> This was written well before Season 7, so please forgive how different this is from how Castle and Beckett actually get married *cough* _elope_ *cough*.

### Chapter One: The Wedding

Seven year old Javier - in body but not mind - sighed as he once more scanned the small crowd milling around the lavishly decorated rooftop ballroom in lower Manhattan. There was still about an hour until the “wedding of the decade” was supposed to start, but already eager fans and well-wishers had started to congregate, vying for the best seats and an unobstructed view of the famous-ish writer. Castle and his so-called friends were locked away in the men’s dressing room, donning their tuxes and struggling with their boutonnieres as they tried to bounce back from what had apparently been an epic night as Rick made his last stand as a free man. The cursed detective swung his legs irritably. Javier liked bachelor parties. If he wasn’t stupid small, he could have been the life of the party. Instead, he’d had to stay home in the loft like a square and had even fallen asleep before his younger partner. 

To add insult to injury, he and Kevin were currently being “baby-sat” by Jim Beckett. Obviously the bride and groom were busy, and everyone else on the planet who would have been less awkward than Kate’s father was part of the wedding party. Javier wasn’t sure if the detectives or the older man were more uncomfortable with the situation. It didn’t help that his ridiculous baby-tuxedo was also uncomfortable, as were the over-powered spot lights illuminating the rooftop. 

Mr. Beckett was busy with his phone. Kevin had succumbed to his boredom and was diligently coloring in the book provided by the clueless employees of the catering company. The little blond was doing quite well at mixing the _generous_ four crayons in such a way to make the cartoonish race car actually look kind of cool. No one would believe that a five-year-old had colored that. Javier still had enough pride left to forgo seeing if he could do any better. 

“I’m going to get a drink,” the Hispanic boy informed his little brother. He glanced sideways at Mr. Beckett and concluded that the man would be happier if the strange man-child his daughter had adopted didn’t bother him. Kevin knowing where he was headed should be good enough to keep Javier out of trouble for slipping away. 

“Can you bring me one, too?” asked the blond without looking up. 

“Maybe,” hedged Javier. “What do you want?”

“Whatever you’re getting.” 

Javier cast one last covert look at their current keeper and silently scooted out of his chair and melted into the scenery. At least he could still remember how to be stealthy, even if sometimes his uncoordinated body struggled to follow his mental commands. He avoided detection all of the way to the narrow line of tables holding various _hors-d'oeuvres_ and refreshments. The open bar would have been his first choice were he more than just a few centimeters over four feet tall. Even so, he’d watched the caterer add a healthy dose of rum to the crystal punch bowl on the first table, and no one was paying any attention to the tumblers stacked neatly beside it. 

“How much trouble would I get in?” wondered the seven-year-old quietly to himself as he gauged the difficulty in scooping some of the orangish mixture with the ladle.

“Hi, cutie!” chirped a perky hostess with heavy eye shadow. She giggled obnoxiously when Javier jumped a few inches and nearly stumbled over his own feet in response to the unexpected sound. _Dumb broad-- Er, friendly young lady_. “What are you looking for?” she asked. 

“Thirsty,” replied Javier once his heart was no longer trying to beat out of his chest. He summoned his best pathetic face (Kevin’s not the only one who can work the puppy eyes) and pointed at the crystal bowl. He regretted it when she erupted into another bout of grating giggles. 

“I don’t know if you’d like that, cutie,” she said. _Yes, I would_ , grumped the detective mentally. Outwardly, he maintained his beseeching expression. “I’ll get you something lots better, okay?” She bounced away and Javier sighed once more. Impatiently, he waited for her to come back. When she finally returned, she triumphantly presented him with a blue Solo cup half filled with a presumably non-alcoholic beverage. 

The second the scent of the sweetly tart drink hit his nostrils, Javier felt his stomach roll. He faked some genuine gratitude and hurried away. He found the first potted plant he could and dumped the pale yellow liquid into the dark dirt. Surely shrubs liked lemonade. The cursed detective didn’t wait to see the awful liquid soak into the soil. He tossed the cup into the pot as well and backed away, willing the memory of the scent to leave him alone. Ugh, he _hated_ lemonade, ever since… well, you know.

Now both thirsty and ill, Javier decided he was going to share his misery with someone who could commiserate. He didn’t care if she was in the middle of preparing for the biggest night of her life.

It was easy enough to seek out the location of the female half of the bridal party and dodge anyone who might try to prevent him from reaching his destination. Javier recalled enough of his manners to knock before simply entering. He did, however, slip around Martha’s legs as soon as the door cracked open wide enough for him to squeeze through. He headed straight for the blushing bride, ignoring Martha’s admonishments that he wasn’t allowed in the female-only space. 

Kate wasn’t exactly blushing when she twisted around in her place before the three-way mirror to see what the commotion was. In fact, she was kind of radiant. Javier momentarily forgot his misery as he took in his ex-partner. He’d always known Kate was beautiful - he had eyes after all - but in her pristine white dress with her light brown hair curling softly around her mega-watt smile, Javier imagined that she was literally glowing from within. 

“Javi!” exclaimed Kate with a twinkling laugh. She crouched down so she could be at his eye level. “What are you doing in here, sweetheart?” She tugged him towards her, angling their position so his back was to the rest of the room. Over her shoulder, he could see in the mirror that some of the bridesmaids were still in the process of donning their green chiffon dresses. Oops.

“Looking for you,” he mumbled, hoping his cheeks weren’t as pink as they felt. Based on Kate’s delighted grin, they were. 

“Sure,” she teased. She leaned forward to whisper in his ear. “I think you’re trying to take advantage of being disguised as a little kid and sneaking a peek at my hot single friends.”

Javier’s blush deepened and he pushed her away. She laughed merrily and Javier wondered if Rick realized just how lucky he _really_ was. In Javier’s mind, there was no one on Earth good enough for Kate, and the writer was fortunate she’d deign to be associated with him. “I am not,” he insisted. “Yeesh.”

“Uh huh.” Kate stole a kiss from his burning cheek. “So what’s the matter, sweetheart?”

“It’s very boring outside. Can you please get this show on the road?”

“Mm, I didn’t realize this ceremony was for your amusement,” she teased. “Besides, not everyone is ready yet.” She grabbed Javier’s shoulders to prevent him from turning to shoot the slow bridesmaids an annoyed look. Obviously she’d forgotten about the huge mirror directly behind her. 

Javier scoffed. “Like anyone is going to be looking at them once you appear.”

“Aw, you’re so sweet,” cooed his ex-partner. She pinched his cheek before Javier could duck her outstretched hand. 

“ _Ka-ate_.” 

“Javier Espo-- Argh! Ochoa!”

Javier’s heart stuttered again when he caught sight of Lanie’s furious reflection in the three-way mirror as the maid of honor marched towards the pair. “Uh oh,” said Kate, her eyes widening comically as she stared at her ex-partner. The bride was useless as her best friend grabbed the seven-year-old with one hand and slapped the other over his eyes. 

“What were you thinking, sneaking in here, you little pig?” demanded the medical examiner.

“I just wanted to see Kate!” stammered the blinded ex-detective. He flailed a little, trying to recover his balance from when Lanie pulled him up against herself. 

“Of all of the disgusting, meat-headed things I imagined you’d try,” seethed Lanie, squeezing him unnecessarily hard.

“Lanie!”

“This really takes the cake, Javier Tomas,” continued his scarily angry ex-girlfriend.

“I wasn’t doing anything wrong!” insisted the ex-detective. “I’m just a little kid! Ow!” _Damn, girl, where did you learn to pinch? Terrorist school?_

“Little kid, my ass,” snapped the maid of honor. “When I’m done with you…”

Javier finally managed to squirm out of her punishing hold and flung himself at Kate. He locked his arms around her waist and ignored the pressure from the beads pressing against his skin where he hid his face against her bodice. “Save me!”

The bride did wrap her arms around his shoulders, but with how hard she was laughing, he doubted she’d actually be able to put up much of a fight against super-scary Lanie. It was difficult to hear over the sound of Kate’s guffaws, but Javier thought she wasn’t the only one laughing. In fact, he and Lanie were probably the only ones _not_ doubled over in stitches.

“You get out of here right now before I put you in a dress and make you toss rose petals all the way down the aisle,” threatened Lanie. Spitefully, Javier thought to himself that her idea wasn’t even original - that’s what he’d suggested for Kevin about six months ago when the couple was trying to decide if they wanted to have a ring-bearer and flower girl in their ceremony. For some reason, the Irish boy hadn’t thought it was funny. 

“Lanie,” said Kate a bit breathlessly. “Can you call Rick to come get him?” She coughed a couple of times to temper her laughter. 

“No, I’m not going to call Rick,” denied Lanie. “Don’t any of you know how this wedding thing works?”

“Then call my dad,” Kate amended. “Isn’t he supposed to be watching you two, anyway?” she asked her ex-partner. 

“Don’t need a baby-sitter,” pouted the seven-year-old. Now that Lanie was distracted with trying to find Mr. Beckett’s number in her call log, Javier dared to pull away from Kate slightly. 

“Clearly you do,” snarked Lanie. Not distracted enough, then. “Keep your damn eyes shut, Javier.” She smacked him hard across the back of his head. He clutched the offended area and squeezed his eyes shut from the pain more than Lanie’s command. Finally, the maid of honor had to adopt a more civil tone as she connected with the father of the bride.

Javier dutifully kept his eyes closed as Kate straightened out his stupid little bowtie. He whined - ahem, _grumbled_ \- when she drew the lapels of his stiff collar in closer to his neck. “It doesn’t need to be that tight,” he said, reaching up to loosen it again. “S’hot.”

“Mmhm.” Kate continued to smooth out of the imaginary wrinkles in his shirt. Javier decided that if he had it his way, he’d curl into the detective’s warm embrace and they could just reschedule this whole charade for a more opportune time. Kate smelled good and her infectious joy was helping him forget his own woes. Well, he was still thirsty, but at least the smell of the lemonade had been overrun with peony.

There was a knock on the door and Mr. Beckett announced himself from the other side. Since Lanie had been called over to help one of the tardy bridesmaids with her stuck zipper, Kate took Javier’s hand and guided her partner-turned-son towards the door so he could keep his eyes shut and dodge Lanie’s wrath. He finally dared to open them when the wash of cooler air over his face assured him they were standing in the opening to the hall. 

The discomfited father was accompanied by Kevin, the five-year-old still clutching his collection of four-colored masterpieces possessively. Mr. Beckett greeted his daughter warmly and apologized for letting Javier slip away. “It’s no big deal,” said Kate. “The spell didn’t erase their abilities to be sneaky, that’s for sure.”

Kevin blinked solemnly up at their ex-partner, wielding his coloring book like a shield as if he didn’t dare breathe on the immaculate bride. “You look very beautiful, Kate,” he said finally. 

“Thank you, baby boy,” replied Kate. Her smile as she regarded him was soft, with less of the brilliance of her earlier grins, but ten times more beautiful for all of the tenderness that it held. She held out her hands for the coy pre-schooler. 

“Don’t you dare pick him up, Kate Beckett!”

The bride froze about two inches from her younger son. She was still holding her statuesque pose when Lanie joined them in the doorway. “Shoo,” the maid of honor said irritably, waving her hands at the cursed detectives. “We have less than thirty minutes until the ceremony is supposed to start and I haven’t even had a chance to see what damage you did to Kate’s dress, Javier.”

“I didn’t hurt it!”

“Get gone.” Lanie pushed him clear of the door and then slammed it shut in all of their faces. Javier stuck his tongue out at the wood paneling. 

“There you are,” called a familiar voice from the far end of the hall. While not his first choice, the groom would have to do. Javier bolted for Castle, reaching up as he got close. The writer used the boy’s forward momentum to effortlessly lift him into the air. Javier locked his arms around the older man’s neck. He didn’t care if Mr. Beckett did a piss-poor job hiding his unease as Rick unconsciously adjusted the boy’s weight to a more comfortable position as if it was the most natural thing in the world to carry around another male who’d been thirty-six less than a year ago. Javier only cared what his surrogate parents and mean ol’ Lanie thought of him. 

“Rick,” greeted Mr. Beckett after clearing his throat. He shook his head briefly, as if once more reminding himself that it was less mind-boggling to think of the two little boys as actual children and not his daughter’s police partners. 

“So you’re the poor soul who got stuck watching the little monsters,” quipped Castle. He shifted his weight rhythmically, a habit he’d picked up for whenever he held one of his sons. It helped Javier’s nerves after his run-in with Lanie, but did little to appease his thirst. 

“Apparently I’m doing a poor job of it,” said Mr. Beckett self-deprecatingly. “I got called down here because Javier snuck into the girls’ dressing room.”

Castle blinked a couple times in surprise at the revelation before smiling lazily. “That’s actually kind of brilliant,” the writer said. “And you don’t like being a little kid…” He bounced the seven-year-old slightly. 

“Shut up,” Javier ground out. “I just wanted to find Kate.” Honestly, he was the only one who’s mind _wasn’t_ in the gutter. “But then Lanie went all psycho on me and kicked me out.”

“Ah. That explains it then.” It doesn’t explain anything, thought Javier bitterly to himself. He was tired, that’s all. Who schedules a wedding for nighttime, anyway? “Did you find Kate?”

“Uh huh.”

“How’d she look?”

“She’s way outta your league.”

“Don’t I know it,” replied Rick. He kissed Javier’s cheek and then set the boy back on his feet. “I think pretty much all of the guests are here. Are we ready to start?”

“Katie looked ready,” said Mr. Beckett. “I’ll check again.”

Rick waited with his boys while the older man made his way back to the forbidden door and knocked again. “What have you got there, squirt?” the writer asked, stealing Kevin’s coloring book. 

“Nothin’,” replied the five-year-old. “It’s boring waiting for your wedding to start.”

Castle laughed. “I wish I was bored. I feel like I’m about to shake apart from nerves.”

“Kate is a lot less scary than Lanie right now,” said Javier seriously. “You’ll do fine.”

“You understand, right, that this is only acceptable because me ‘n’ Javi are going to be right there? We’ll be making sure you take good care of her, every minute of every day.” Kevin leveled the writer with a heavy look. 

“Kate, and the two of you,” answered Rick with equal weight. 

“What about the baby?”

“Yes, obviously the baby,” said the writer. He rolled his eyes. His demeanor returned to serious as he knelt down and drew the cursed duo in closer. “You know that I’d have you both standing up there with me if it weren’t for the curse.”

“You said that,” said Kevin. When the older man had been whittling down his list of groomsmen, he’d told the detectives the same thing. 

“Yeah.” Castle kissed them each in turn on the forehead before rising back to his full height just in time to greet his mother as she emerged from no-man’s land. Mr. Beckett would stay behind now so he could escort Kate up the aisle. It was finally time for everyone to take their places. 

The ceremony started with the groom walking his mother and sons to their seats at the front of the venue. As he offered his elbow to Martha and clasped Kevin’s little fingers with his right hand, Castle whispered, “Do you think Dad’s here somewhere?”

“I’m sure he found a way to be here in spirit,” said the redhead softly. She patted Rick’s arm. Kevin and Javier exchanged confused looks. There wasn’t time to question the groom, as he nudged Javier to start the long trek down the temporary carpet. 

After the trio took their seats and Martha candidly informed the boys that technically they belonged to her and that’s why they had to sit on the groom’s side of the aisle, things went fairly quickly. Javier and Kevin were too short to see Kate after everyone stood to watch her walk towards her future husband, so they settled for watching the vast array of emotions cross Castle’s face as his bride approached. The writer might not be good enough for the detective, but he surely looked like he was planning to adore her until death did they part. 

_to be continued..._


	2. The Reception

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wherein Javier and Kevin don't want to party all night...

### Chapter Two: The Reception

By midnight, the swinging reception was still going strong. Javier yawned widely from his comfy seat in the maid of honor’s lap. Lanie’s earlier irritation at him had faded as her love of weddings restored her good humor and now she was laughing gaily at something Alexis had said while cuddling her quickly fading ex-boyfriend. It was hours past the time when the cursed detectives usually crashed for the night, and Javier would have loved to be sprawled out on his comfy bed in the peace and quiet right about then. The thumping base and flashing lights in the dance hall were making it impossible for even the most tired of little boys to fall asleep. 

The best man - er, woman - had also been commandeered as a chair cushion. Unfairly, Kevin seemed to be doing a better job staying awake as he bobbed his head along with the music and occasionally butted in to the girls’ conversation. Alexis hugged him loosely, her ear-to-ear grin never fading. Javier imagined that her cheek muscles were going to be quite sore in the morning… or rather later that day. He yawned again and then sighed when he saw Castle lead Kate out for yet _another_ dance on the crowded floor. Earlier in the evening, both partners had shared an awkward dance with the bride. Javier found himself once again wishing that he was in his adult body, because Kate would never believe that he actually did know how to dance given his fumbling in his stupid kid body. At least he’d done better than Kevin, whom Kate had eventually just picked up and spun around the ballroom in her arms. 

“Aw, are you tuckering out already, _chico_?” teased Lanie when she noticed the boy’s yawns.

“Of course not,” lied the Hispanic boy. “Your gabbing is sucking all of the oxygen out of the room and I’m becoming deprived.”

“Or depraved,” rejoined his ex-girlfriend meanly. “Are you wussing out too, cutie?” she asked Kevin. 

“It is very late,” Kevin said diplomatically. “I could sleep.”

“Well, why don’t you two go give Mommy and Daddy a kiss good-night and I’ll track down someone to drop you off at the loft with the baby-sitter.”

“Why don’t you kiss my--” 

“Don’t finish that sentence, Javier,” warned Lanie. “I happen to have it on good authority that Castle has you on a strict no swearing plan. Now go.” She pushed the seven-year-old off of her lap so she could smooth out her dress and stand herself. 

“You used to be cool, Lanie,” complained Javier. 

“You used to be over four feet tall,” she retorted. 

“I _am_ over four feet tall.” He was at least forty-nine inches, if not fifty. 

“He’s right,” said Alexis, hoping to forestall a lover’s spat. “I plan to suggest a trip up to Lake George after the honeymoon and I’m sure Javier will be tall enough for all of the big kid rides.” She lifted Kevin to the ground and encouraged the boys to bid the bride and groom good-night. With one last wounded look at Lanie, Javier took Kevin’s hand and pulled him through the crowd to the edge of the dance floor. The current song was winding down and the crowd parted just enough for the boys to find the other half of their surrogate family.

“Daddy,” said Kevin, tugging on Castle’s hand to get the writer’s attention. 

“Hey kiddo. You trying to steal another dance?”

“No. It’s bedtime. Me ‘n’ Javi are both really sleepy.”

“I’m not,” lied Javier, crossing his arms over his chest. 

“Oh my gosh,” exclaimed Kate. “Rick, it’s nearly twelve-thirty!” She laughed, still high from the joy of the evening. “I’m sorry, guys.”

“You’re supposed to be having fun,” said Javier. “We’re just telling you good-night. Lanie said she’d take us home.”

“Okay,” agreed Kate. She knelt down so she could tug him in close for a kiss and a hug. “Love you, Javi. We’ll be home in a few, okay?” The couple had two days of newlywed bliss planned in the Big Apple before they jetted off to Paris for two weeks. She subjected Kevin to the same treatment and then stood to the side to give Castle his turn. Their duty done, Javier led Kevin back to their table to find their ride home. 

Except that he couldn’t find anyone he recognized. In the last five minutes, their companions had vanished into the crowd. Frustrated, Javier slumped down in Lanie’s chair to glare at the merry-makers. Kevin leaned against his side. “Should we look for them?”

“They’ll be back,” Javier said. He didn’t want to walk around anymore. He wanted to sleep. 

The exhausted pair waited for another ten minutes before Javier gave up and agreed with Kevin that they should start looking. As they were passing the buffet on the far side of the dance hall, Javier’s eye was caught by the thick, dark woolen table clothes hanging all of the way to the ground. He tugged on Kevin’s hand. The younger boy grumbled when the unexpected action nearly caused him to poke the eye he’d been rubbing. 

Javier ducked behind the table and then lifted up the skirt to examine the space beneath it. Except for a few boxes of extra flatware, there was plenty of room. Most importantly, the thick fabric partially muted the music and blocked out the lights. The thin carpet wasn’t as plush as his mattress, but right now all Javier wanted was to get horizontal. He’d sleep on concrete if that’s what it took. 

“Come on,” he said, dragging Kevin under the table, too. They unwrapped a few of the fancy silverware bundles and spread the linen napkins out on the floor, because who knew what had been spilled on it over the years. They folded up their tux jackets to use as pillows and then stretched out next to each other. 

“What if they can’t find us under here?” asked Kevin. 

“I don’t care,” said Javier. “I just want to sleep.” He wrapped his arms around the smaller boy and hid his face in the back of Kevin’s dress shirt, finally erasing the last of the light show. Seconds later, he was out.

xXx

Lanie was trying very hard not to panic. It had been an hour since she’d sent Javier and Kevin off to kiss their parents good-night and she had sought out someone to take them home. Now, she couldn’t find the shrunken pair anywhere and with the party winding down, the ballroom was quickly emptying. She cursed her inexcusable lack of time management and frantically scanned the large space again while trying to make it not look too obvious as to what she was doing. Especially to the beaming bride and groom who were accepting a last round of well-wishes from their exiting guests. En route to the location where she’d last seen the father of the bride, she’s been waylaid by a charming and utterly gorgeous reporter who been part of the paparazzi covering the big event. Her intended five minutes of flirting had somehow escalated into forty-five minutes and now she had no idea where the tiny detectives she’d been watching had vanished to.

“Lanie,” said Alexis, grabbing the ME’s arm and nearly scaring the older woman out of her spiked heels. The redhead apologized quickly after noting Lanie’s reaction. 

“Lex,” said Lanie, pressing her right hand over her heart. “Anything?”

Alexis shook her head. “I asked the staff, checked all of the bathrooms, and toured the room three times. No one has seen them.”

Lanie tugged on one of her limp curls. “You don’t think someone went home with an extra souvenir or two, do you?” It hadn’t exactly been a closed door ceremony and there were plenty of people in attendance that neither the bride nor groom knew. 

“We can’t think like that, yet,” said Alexis. “I enlisted Grams’ help, and Mr. Beckett.” Speaking of the two older members of their curse-savvy group, both joined the nervous maid of honor and worried best woman. “We’ll find them.”

“We better hurry. There aren’t many people left to distract your dad.” Lanie did _not_ want to have to explain to her best friend and her new husband that their little boys were gone.

“I’m just glad to not be the only one to lose one of them tonight,” said Jim Beckett dryly. 

“And you shan’t be the last,” said Martha, throwing her hands up dramatically. “Take it from one who lives with them - those two are notorious for disappearing. They always turn up eventually.”

“It’s one thing to lose them in the loft,” said Lanie. “Ugh, I can’t believe this. They should _know_ better.”

“They do know better,” said Alexis, suddenly perking up. “They wouldn’t leave the building, or even this room for that matter, without telling one of us.”

“We’ve searched every corner of this room,” bemoaned Lanie. “If they are hiding somewhere and haven’t been kidnapped, I am going to kill Javier.”

“We haven’t searched every corner,” corrected Alexis. She motioned towards the abandoned line of buffet tables. “What’s that story that Dad always tells about me when he’s trying to educate the guys on how scary it is for parents to misplace their kids?” She looked over at her grandmother. 

“He thought you’d been stolen while he was shopping for a new suit, but it reality, you had grown tired and crawled under a clothes rack to nap,” said Martha. 

“They were both very tired and probably thought we’d forgotten about them,” said Lanie, easily jumping to the same conclusion as Alexis. She started to feel hopeful again. 

“I’ll start at that end,” said Alexis, pointing towards the mostly eaten wedding cake. “You take that one.” She swung her arm around to point at the crab cakes and jalapeño poppers. The two leaders of the wedding party split apart, quickly reaching their respective lines of tables and crouching down to lift up the heavy table skirts to peer underneath. 

Lanie was momentarily blinded when the full house lights suddenly came on and the band struck their last note of the evening. Hardly anyone remained in the large room, save for the wedding party and a few dedicated guests. The hotel and catering staff descended rapidly on the buffet, removing the serving trays and utensils with stunning efficiency. Lanie awkwardly stood up when one of the caterers shot her a curious look. She flashed him a mind your own business grin and shuffled a few feet forward to her next unchecked table. 

“Lanie!”

The maid of honor felt her heart leap into her throat at the sound of her best friend’s call. She slowly turned and did her best to smile naturally as the newlyweds walked up to her, arm in arm. Beyond them, Martha and Jim shrugged apologetically as they trailed after their respective son and daughter. 

“You look like you’ve lost something,” laughed the bride. Like Lanie, her perfect updo was falling out rapidly as the hairspray and bobby pins lost the battle with gravity. If anything, it only accentuated her beauty by making her look more real, and like she’d just been having the time of her life on the dance floor. 

“Misplaced your makeup bag again?” teased Castle. He’d shed his jacket and vest a long time ago. His rolled up sleeves and unbuttoned collar made him look fresh and carefree. Lanie could see why Kate liked him. 

“Um, sure,” she agreed, and smiled robotically again. “Though it seems useless to worry about it now, huh?”

Kate tipped her head to one side as she regarded her best friend curiously. Lanie cursed her atrocious acting skills under pressure. Castle was a little less clued in, thankfully. “I’ll let Alexis know she can stop looking, too.” They all glanced in the direction of the tuxedo-clad young woman, who adopted a deer-caught-in-headlights look when she noticed their attention. She ungracefully stood up and hesitantly made her way towards them. 

“Are you okay, Lanie?” asked Kate, her brows furrowed slightly with concern. 

“I’m great!” squeaked the maid of honor. Kate looked even less convinced now. 

“Well, I’m ready to head home,” announced Castle. “I’m sure the baby-sitter will be relieved to finally get to leave.”

Lanie shot Martha a desperate look. The first thing the writer was going to do when they returned to the loft was check on his kids, all three of whom he assumed were sleeping peacefully in their beds. Castle and Kate would both flip out when their boys weren’t there.

“You’re throwing the towel in already?” asked the actress, stepping up and clasping her son and daughter-in-law each on one shoulder. “I never thought I’d see the day when us old farts outlasted you.” Jim Beckett looked mildly offended at being called an old fart. “It’s customary for the bride and groom to get drinks with their bridal party before officially ending the evening.”

“Since when?” asked Castle suspiciously. 

“Since forever,” replied Martha. 

“You didn’t let me in on this ‘tradition’ at my first two weddings,” he said. 

Martha waved her hand dismissively. “I didn’t like your first two brides.” She looked seriously at her son. “Now, go. Keep the celebration going. I’ll head back to the loft and relieve the baby-sitter.”

“Uh, okay.” Castle turned to his daughter. “You up for that, pumpkin?”

“Yes!” Alexis blushed at her overeager response. “I mean, it sounds like fun. Thanks, Grams.”

“I’m in,” said Lanie in a strangled voice. What if Martha and Kate’s dad couldn’t find the kids before this second ‘party’ ended?

“Are you sure you’re okay?” questioned Kate.

“I really liked that makeup bag,” said Lanie. She hoped she wasn’t sweating too obviously. She was so going to throttle Javier when she saw him next. “I’m going to, uh, check one more place.” She crouched down and lifted up the skirt of the table high enough that only she could see underneath. “Damn it,” she muttered under her breath when she once again came up empty. There was only one more table in her line and the odds of it concealing the missing kids was feeling mighty slim. 

“I’m sure it’s replaceable,” said Castle consolingly. “Maybe someone from the hotel found it and they’ll hold it for us.”

The catering staff, having secreted away all of their table-toppers, came back through, ripping the skirts off of the folding tables and tossing them into a laundry cart. Lanie’s mixture of relief and embarrassment when the last cloth was pulled off was jarring and she choked down a shout of victory. Lanie didn’t even care that Castle’s eyebrows had climbed into his hairline and Kate was now looking at her with a knowing look as it was revealed for what Lanie and Alexis had really been searching. 

“Maybe not so replaceable,” muttered Castle as he knelt down to get a closer look at the sleeping pair of children. 

“I’m sorry,” mouthed Lanie at Kate. The bride waved her off and leaned over Castle’s shoulder to get her own look. Alexis shared a commiserating look with the maid of honor. There was no use denying anymore that they’d lost track of Kevin and Javier. 

Castle nudged each of his children in turn to wake them up. Kevin whined softly at the disturbance. Javier blinked tiredly and rubbed at his dark brown eyes until he could focus on the older man. Once he recognized the groom, he asked beseechingly, “Can we please go home now?”

“Yeah, I think so,” said Castle. He scooped up Kevin and handed him to Kate so he could lift Javier into his own arms. He rose fluidly, hugging his seven-year-old protectively. The little schemer was already asleep again, using Castle’s shoulder as a pillow. The groom kissed the crown of Javier’s head fondly. “On second thought, I think we’ll buck tradition tonight and just head home,” he said. Lanie cringed at the sound of disappointment in his voice. 

“Here, give him to me,” Martha told Kate, holding out her arms for the five-year-old. “You need to change out of your dress.” Kate reluctantly relinquished her younger son. Lanie followed after her, fully intending to grovel for forgiveness while she helped the bride with the complicated buttons on the back of the dress. 

“Kate, I am so sorry,” said the ME. “It’s all my fault. I got distracted and--”

“Lanie,” interrupted Kate, pausing in the middle of the hall to confront her best friend straight-on. “I know them, okay? Probably better than anyone else does. I know that Javier probably masterminded their little disappearing act and that Kevin probably went along with it with little to no argument. I just… we thought they’d been taken home hours ago. When they go missing, I need to _know_ , so I can do something about it.”

“You’re right. I just didn’t want to worry you, tonight of all nights.”

“I appreciate that,” said Kate, giving Lanie a warm smile. “And everything is okay now. They’re with their dad and soon enough they’ll be safe in bed. I feel bad for not having a better plan in place to make sure they were taken care of. Two in the morning is much too late for them to be out.”

“Thanks, Kate.”

“You’re welcome.” The bride wrapped her maid on honor in a tight hug and Lanie returned it exuberantly. When Kate pulled away, she smirked playfully. “Rick, on the other hand, is a rapid pit bull where the boys are concerned.”

“Oh, God,” bemoaned the ME.

xXx

Rick Castle fumed silently as he waited for his new wife to return. He felt betrayed by his friends and family, who’d tried to hide from him the fact that his babies were missing. He was annoyed that they’d gone missing in the first place, though that anger was more evenly distributed to include the boys as well. Having Javier in his arms now and Kevin within sight did little to assuage his hurt.

And a small part of him was mad at himself for not realizing that the boys had been pushed to the point of hiding under a buffet table because they were too exhausted to bear another minute of the reception. He rested his cheek against the back of Javier’s head and hummed quietly to himself as he rocked back and forth, trying to let go of his anger. All the others were really guilty of was lying to him. He was, after all, the father and ultimately it was his responsibility to make sure his kids were okay, even if someone else was supposed to be watching them. Knowing his mother and daughter as he did, he presumed they’d only hidden this from him in hopes of not causing him undue worry on his wedding day. It was a nice thought, but he’d rather know the truth. 

“Dad,” said Alexis in a small voice. She placed her hand on the arm he had wrapped around Javier’s back. “Are you very mad?”

“Mostly I’m disappointed,” he said. “How long before you were going to tell me that you couldn’t find your little brothers?”

“Richard…” said Martha. Castle ignored her and looked intently at his daughter. 

“Maybe like five more minutes,” mumbled Alexis. “I thought they might have been under the tables, but we didn’t have a chance to look under all of them before you found us. I know how scared you were when they were taken in South Hampton and I had hoped that even though we’d let you down by losing track of them, it would be a smaller deal because we’d already found them.”

He found it impossible to remain angry with Alexis when she looked so disappointed in herself and was directing huge blue eyes pleadingly up at him. “I appreciate that, pumpkin, but I need to know things like this right away.”

“I’m sorry.”

“I know. I forgive you. I love you.”

“I love you, too, Dad.” She beamed up at him. 

Castle sighed and looked over at his mother again. He caught his father-in-law’s eye as well. “Don’t worry, the boys won’t get off scot free. Even if they couldn’t find one of you, they should have come to Kate and me.”

“I think everyone was of the same mindset tonight,” said Martha. “We just wanted this night to be perfect.”

“It was, in spite of everything.” He finally let go of his anger. His babies were safe and while misguided, his loved ones had had the best of intentions. “How long does it take to change, anyway? Fifty pounds isn’t exactly light.”

“Oh, suck it up,” said Martha cheekily. “You know you’re thrilled to take advantage of Javier’s clinginess tonight.”

“Touché.” 

“I, um, can take him if you want,” offered Jim to Martha. Kevin wasn’t that much lighter than his brother, and if Castle’s arms were starting to ache, his mother had to be tiring quickly, too. 

“How out of it is he?” Castle asked his mother. The little blond would not be happy to wake up in the other man’s arms. The boys barely knew their ex-boss’s father. 

“A stampede of bulls couldn’t wake him up,” said Martha. She gratefully handed the five-year-old off to his grandfather. Jim struggled for a second to maneuver the little boy into a comfortable position, but eventually he succeeded. Martha patted his arm. “See, he’s just like any other sleepy baby.”

“Yeah,” agreed the older man. He studied the little face that was lax with sleep. “That’s some spell, huh?”

“You have no idea,” said Castle with a shake of his head. “Welcome to the crazy world of witches, Grandpa.”

“I think I’m going to pretend for a little longer that they really are your distant cousins,” said Jim self-consciously. “But it’s about time I had a litter of grandkids.”

“Well, at the rate those two go at it, you’ll have more than you can count before long,” said Martha, waving her hand at her son. 

“Mother!”

Castle shook his head amidst the chuckling of his family. What fun would his life be if they weren’t all crazy?

**The End**

**Author's Note:**

> I greatly appreciate every review that I receive. Please let me know what you think, especially if you have ideas of ways I can improve. I cherish all my reviews. I write for fun but I always want to improve, so constructive criticism is always welcome. All mistakes are my own.


End file.
